Article retainer



May l, 1934- A. J. WHITTLE 1,957,377

ARTICLE RETAINER Filed April 14, 1932 Patented May l, 1934 PATsNr cerros ARTICLE RETAINER Anthony J. Whittle, Chicago, Ill.

Application April 14, 1932, Serial No. 605,278

3 Claims.

My invention relates to devices for retaining articles in suspension and from falling or dropping away, and more particularly to such devices A in this class which are adjustable for articles of different Widths or thicknesses, and my main object is to provide a retainer or this kind which is self adjusting and readily yields to the application of the article.

A further object of the invention is to employ 'a resilient member, such as a rubber band for the retaining unit.

A still further object of the invention is to design the novel retainer along lines of exceedu F Aing simplicity.

With the above objects in view and any others that may suggest themselves from the specification and claims to follow, a better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a perspective view, showing one application of the novel retainer;

Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly broken away, showing the novel retainer employed for another use;

Fig. 3 is an edge View of the main portions of Fig. 2; and

Figfl is a perspective view, partly in section, of a modification.

The articles for which the novel retainer is in- -tended are of the elongated type, such as pencils, lollypop sticks, golf-tees and the like; and the principle I employ is to hold these articles to a support by means of the resilient member previously referred to, such member being self-adjustable to the thickness or width of the article.

For purposes of illustration, 10 denotes a display card or xture intended to be hung on a wall or set on a counter. The card may serve y for the display or a variety of pencils 11 and is perforated with openings 10a which are large enough for the loose passage of any of the pencils. These may not only be of different diameters or girths but of various shapes, as clearly indicated in Fig. l, and the openings 10a are made round in order to facilitate the passage of the pencils whatever their shapes may be.

With the pencils inserted as shown, it is apparent that they would readily tilt in the direction of their greater lengths and slide out of the -card 10 Were not some means provided to retain them thereto. I provide this means in the form of an ordinary rubber band l2, which I pass longitudinally over the center of the card and also I back of the same to seat in a convenient Wall hook 13 and thus support the display. The band l2 is applied before the pencils are inserted and placed so as to cross the line of openings a at substantially medial points, Thus, the insertion of each pencil will frictionally crowd the corresponding portion of the rubber band 12 in one or the other direction, and when the pencil is released the friction of the band will retain it to the card. In order to assure the engagement or" the band with each pencil of the series, the pencils are inserted on alternate sides of the band as shown.

Figs. 2 and 3 show the application of the invention to a pill box type of golf-tee retainer 14. The box is made with a series of openings 14a in its periphery, these openings being suinciently spacious to permit the insertion of the shank 15a of a variety of golftees 15, suoli Shanks being of various diameters and shapes. The illustrations show that the rubber band 16 is wrapped ove1` the periphery of the box, and that the golf-tees are applied alternately in the same manner as the pencils in the forni of Fig. 1, being thus retained to the box. For convenience, the box 14 is made with a staple fastener 17 which is attached to the side of a golf bag 18.

Fig. 4 illustrates a solid type of golf-tee retainer 19, preferably made of wood. In this modifica tion, a series of spacious radial bores 19a is made to receive the tee-Shanks 15a, and the bores are interconnected by a peripheral, medially-located groove 19h. The rubber band 16, somewhat' tensioned, is seated in this groove. By medially intersecting the bore entrances, the rubber band' presents a greater resistance to the insertion oi the tees, being forced to arch laterally as indicated by dotted lines at the top of Fig. e. The band therefore holds the tees more rmly and cannot creep laterally out of the Zone of function or to slide off the retainer periphery.

It will be seen that the novel retainer not only holds the articles applied thereto irrespective as to their shape and girth, but also permits any of the articles to be Withdrawn without diiilculty. The retaining feature is but a simple, standard rubber band, and the accessory perforated card or holder is also an item of exceeding simplicity, making the device an inexpensive one to produce and a very easy one to handle and use.

I claim:

l. A retainer for golf tees comprising a solid disc, radial tee carrying recesses in the periphery of said disc, a surface groove in said periphery medially intersecting each of said recesses, and a rubber band removably carried by said groove and extending across said recesses.

disc, radial tee carrying recesses in the periphery of said disc, a surface groove in said periphery medially intersecting each of said recesses, and a rubber band removably carried by said groove and extending across said recesses so that the insertion of a tee in a recess deects said rubber band.

ANTHONY J. WHITTLE. 

